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Massachusetts Sets the Stage
For Digital Medical Records

In any other industry, the news would have hardly warranted a mention. But in health care, automating the vast quantities of patient data remains a nascent field.

Amply illustrating that fact, officials in Massachusetts announced this week that their state will become "the first in the nation to have a statewide electronic medical-record system, which would allow doctors to easily see what kind of care a patient has received from other physicians, avoid duplications, and prevent medical errors," according to the...